Text messages alongside email: when SMS makes sense

Email is patient. Members read it when they choose, often hours later. Text messages, often called SMS, are the opposite: they arrive on the lock screen and are usually read within minutes. That makes texting tempting for a membership owner who wants to be sure a message gets seen. It also makes it easy to overdo. A text feels personal and slightly intrusive, and a membership that texts too often, or about the wrong things, quickly becomes the number members block.

Used sparingly, for the right messages and with clear permission, text messages can sit alongside email and handle the moments when timing really matters. The skill is knowing which moments those are.

What texts are good at, and what they are not

Texts are short, immediate and hard to miss. That suits messages where speed matters and the content fits in a sentence or two. They are poor at anything long, visual or browsable, and they cost money per message in a way email usually does not.

Texts usually make sense for

• A reminder that a live event starts shortly, with the joining link.
• A last-minute change: a cancelled session, a new time, a changed location.
• Urgent account issues, such as a payment problem that will cut off access, for members who have asked to be told this way.
• Login and security codes, where your membership software supports them.

Email is usually better for

• Newsletters, digests and new content announcements.
• Anything that needs explanation, images or several links.
• Most promotions. A sales text feels far pushier than a sales email.
• Receipts and records members may need to find later.

Consent comes first

Permission matters even more for texts than for email. A phone number given for account purposes is not permission to send marketing texts. Ask separately, explain exactly what members will receive and how often, and make it optional rather than a condition of joining. Keep a record of when and how each person agreed.

Text reminders (optional): Get a text 30 minutes before live sessions you've registered for, and if a session is cancelled at short notice. No more than a few texts a month, and no marketing. Reply STOP at any time to end them.

The rules on text messaging are often stricter than those for email and vary considerably between countries and regions, covering consent, timing, content and how people opt out. Check what applies to you and your members with a qualified professional before you start.

If you already let members choose which emails they receive, add text reminders as another option in the same place, so everything is managed together. Preference centers explains how to structure those choices.

Writing a text that works

A text has no subject line, no sender logo and very little space. Every message should:

1. Say who it is from in the first words. Members may not have your number saved.
2. Have one purpose. One piece of information, one action.
3. Include a link only if the action needs it, and make sure the page works well on a phone.
4. Be plain. No capitals for emphasis, no strings of emoji, no abbreviations members might not know.
5. Explain how to stop, at least in the first message and periodically after that.

Worked example: a community choir

Imagine a hypothetical online and in-person community choir run by Nadia. Members receive rehearsal tracks, sheet music and a weekly update by email. Nadia offers optional text alerts and sorts her messages like this:

• Weekly update, new tracks, concert news: email only.
• Online rehearsal starting soon: text, to members who opted in and registered.
• In-person rehearsal cancelled or moved: text and email, because members may already be on their way.
• Ticket sales for the concert: email only.

Two of her texts:

Harbor Voices: online rehearsal starts in 30 min. Join here: [link]

Harbor Voices: tonight's rehearsal at the community hall is cancelled due to a burst pipe. We'll meet online at the same time instead. Details by email. Reply STOP to end alerts.

Members receive a handful of texts a month at most, and every one of them is something they would have been annoyed to miss. That is the standard to aim for.

The practical details

• Timing: avoid early mornings and late evenings, and remember that members may be in other time zones.
• Cost: texts are usually charged per message, and long messages can count as several. Budget before you commit.
• Security: phone numbers are personal information. Collect them only for a clear purpose, limit who can see them and remove them when members leave or opt out.
• Accuracy: numbers change hands. Give members an easy way to update theirs.
• No duplication: do not send every email as a text too. A text should be the right channel for that message, not an echo.

Event reminders are where most memberships start with texting, and they work best as one part of a planned sequence; event invitations and reminders that fill the room covers the full sequence.

Should you add text messages?

1. List the messages where timing genuinely matters to members.
2. If there are only one or two a year, email is probably enough.
3. If there are several a month, draft an optional text sign-up with clear wording.
4. Check the rules that apply to you before sending anything.
5. Start with event reminders and last-minute changes only.
6. After a couple of months, ask members whether the texts are helpful or intrusive, and adjust.